I have said before that I will occasionally borrow from an author’s work that resonates or hits a particular chord in me. What follows is the poem The Power of the Dog by Rudyard Kipling. This little guy in the picture is the reason. If you own a dog, have ever owned a dog, lost a dog, lived with a dog, had a relative who owned a dog you were close to, or even considered having a dog in your life, this poem will resonate with you, too.

I am not one of those into the “my dog’s better than your dog” banter. My life is not centered around or consumed by this little fella. Yet. But in an attempt to appease the dog hunger in both my and my husband’s hearts created years ago when our beloved dog companions passed, we thought we’d foster for a little while to temporarily fill the void.

Snort. This guy was no sooner in the door than he was on my husband’s lap and nanoseconds later in his heart. A so-called “foster fail.” It happens frequently Maxine of Max’s Pet Rescue tells me. Maxine Hirsch has run her dog adoption rescue charity in the same Pet Smart location for the past 17 years.

Maxine is a transplanted Canadian lured like countless other fed-up,winter-challenged Northerners to sunny Florida climes. She has made this exclusive dog rescue (no cats) and her devotion to the homeless, stray, and displaced the center of her world. Many of her dogs come to her from owners who suddenly or otherwise leave the planet.

If there was an award for canine caring canonization, Maxine Hirsch would be a viable contender. She has a bevy of volunteers equally committed to the welfare of canines living in limbo. When Max can’t immediately find owners or fosters for her charges, she keeps them at home. That home has been known to occasionally be full to the rafters. Fourteen of them just this week. Plus her own two dogs.

Our foster fail came with a name we will not keep. As his character emerges, so will his name. For now, this seven-year-old almost eight-year-old mixed breed (Bichon and Pomeranian) is simply called Dog. What we do know is how loving and gentle and love-hungry he is. He’s found a good match.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) had a special bond with his dogs. In this poem, he shares the joy a dog’s loyalty and devotion brings, but bids you consider a dog also has the power to break your heart when its life comes to an end. Oh well. We’ve been warned.

And what, you might ask, has this got to do with Writing A Book? Not a damned thing unless, of course, you will agree that writing is about life with all of its unexpected twists and turns and that is one of life’s finest domestic manifestations. Herewith, an ode to those heartbreakers.

The Power of the Dog

by Rudyard Kipling 

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless, it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair—
But … you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?